Jerusalem: Israel wants a complete troop withdrawal from Lebanon by the weekend, Defence Minister Amir Peretz said on Wednesday.

"This is our intent, we definitely want to complete it," Peretz said.

Army chief Dan Halutz had said a day earlier that Israel would pullout from Lebanon starting on Friday.

"We hope there won't be any mishaps in coordinating with the Lebanese army and the international forces, and that everything will go according to the planned timetable," Peretz said in remarks during a tour of southern Israel.

Earlier this week the Israeli army said it had withdrawn from more than 80 percent of territory and handed it over to UN peacekeepers.

Meanwhile, Germany and Malaysia had started to beef up its international peacekeeping force in Lebanon on Wednesday.

Some 1,000 German soldiers are set to leave for Lebanon on Thursday, after Germany on Wednesday approved a plan to send up to 2,400 troops to Lebanon.

Malaysia had offered to send 1,000 troops as peacekeepers.

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